Welcome to Oaxaca, where if you close your eyes for just a second in the right part of town, you’ll re-open your eyes to a procession exploding with dance, costumes, mezcal and tamales. The feeling it evokes in you is equal parts joyous, magical, chaotic and a to be honest a tad…. bizarre! You can’t help but get caught up in the excitement and joy.

This one in particular was ‘Muestras de Carnivals de los Valles Centrales’, showcasing surrounding villages including De Santa Ana Zegache, Santa María Coyotepec, San Martín Tilcajete, San Jacinto Chilateca y El Barrio De San Pablo De La Villa Zaachila. Under the layers of outrageous costumes and laughing faces, is an underlying sense of competition between the villages, the result of a deep sense of pride.

With the Spanish invasion in the 16th century came the tradition of Carnival to Mexico. Like many other cultural celebrations, it seems to fall on “lost days” of the Mesoamerican calendar, “when faces were covered to repel or confuse evil.”